No one cares how far you rode your bike: "Keep your distance"

Being more of a runner than cyclist, I find the emphasis on distance a bit surprising. The only reason for running a 50 or 60 mile week is so that you can do that 10k a bit faster. And when looking at rides on Strava I want to see pace and height gain to be impressed.

Those are a lot of words to express one's indifference.

I thought it was only the turkey we re-warmed up and had repeats on the television at this time of year

my view hasnt altered on this in the past 11 months.

If targets and goals motivate you or enhance your enjoyment, then go for it. And if they don't, then don't.

My only real goal in recent years has been to do some exercise (cycling or running) at least 3 days per week. I mange that most weeks.

Rather curmudgeonly! When I played cricket and rugby we would discuss our achievements and those of others in terms of runs or tries scored and wickets taken, golfers discuss each other's handicaps etc. Most keen cyclists don't actually race so distance and/or elevation gain is a good metric for measuring achievement and ability. It should always remain an interesting by-product of a love for riding rather than a target (I do know a couple of target-fixated people who will go out in atrocious conditions or when they're feeling bad because they're obsessed with hitting their quota) but with that caveat I can't see what's wrong with talking about it.

I remember thinking to post when this came out the year ago. But since we're rehashing on the front page!
Personal arbitrary goals are typically inconsequential to anyone else. it's good to recognise that before boring others sometimes. However it can help make the person attempting feel a sense of achievement!
Validation of achievement's can take so many forms be it personal or within a group These kind of metrics can help some people feel satisfied. So good luck to them!

This has the same sour grapes feeling as the "think how many calories your eating " thanksgiving message my miserable self obsessed boss gave one year at the holidays. Off base. A long way. 

This article is nothing but two pages of douchebag sookery...

Whatever metric makes you feel like you're progressing as a cyclist; minutes, miles, hours, meters, ftp, etc... track it and be proud of your progress. Don't less assholes like this author belittle your goals because their days of self improvement are far behind in the rear view mirror. Track it, achieve it, brag about it if you want to... and good on you for every achievement you accomplish.

Jo, different strokes for different folks.  No one cares that your socks, cycling cap, and bar-tape are coordinated.  But if that is one of the things that you enjoy about cycling then go for it.  Some people are motivated by the number or miles, others by the experiences during the ride, some by scenery, etc.  I can appreciate the underlying message of your post, but you communicated it in a very judgmental way and you generalized the way in which the entire cycling world should enjoy cycling.  If it was for effect (and clicks) then mission accomplished.  Otherwise, leave the mile counters alone and tell us why YOU enjoy cycling.  Let's celebrate the diversity of our community instead of telling people how a cyclist is supposed to be.

I was thinking what a fun sponge then remembered I have a picture of me in the same MTB race as this journo and in it he's wearing multi coloured leopard skin full length lycra tights.

Actually, I think people do care, well maybe not care, but are certainly interested.  The first thing that people generally ask me when I pull up on my bike if we strike up a conversation is how far I've been.

Anything over 20 miles just confirms in their mind that cyclists are plainly as mad as they always suspected.

I do fine it amusing that plenty of the comments dont get the crux of the article.

"I read it but regardless....This is me impressing you with my bicycling amazballs rides. I shall now list them..."

"For fellow cyclists, it’s ... a handy passive-aggressive “I’m better than you” boast if you want."

Whereas this article is in no way a passive-aggressive “I’m better than you” boast either...

I do track my miles, and set myself a stretch but achievable goal of 5500 miles in 2020. I ended up being very close with just a few days to go, resulting in me riding 32 miles on December 30th, and 42 miles on the 31st, to meet it. Both days were well below freezing, with icy roads (I put the studded tyres on) and it was great! I was sore for days.

Without the goal, I'd just have been sitting home having beers and eating holiday candy. Which would also have been great, but not quite as good for me.

"For fellow cyclists, it’s a straightforward shorthand method of letting someone know where you lie on the riding league table, and a handy passive-aggressive “I’m better than you” boast if you want."

"To summarise: I don’t care about how far you’ve been, and I don't believe anyone does really"

I couldn't disagree with this article more and it seems to completely misunderstand why people do distance challenges as these two quotes are completely wrong for me and I'm sure many others.  I don't do distance challenges to impress anyone or to show off or anything like that and I don't care at all what people think of my distances.  I have many friends who are incredible cyclists who have always been able to do vastly longer cycles than me so there would be no point in trying to impress them with my efforts.

Some of my favourite rides have come from distance challenges because they force me to do something more than I normally do which is exactly why I do the challenges.  After medical problems in 2019 I lost all my fitness but was getting better towards the end of the year so decided I wanted to get a 100 miles done just before Christmas and had a fantastic ride in conditions I wouldn't normally have ridden in.  

Last year I wanted to complete a virutal LEJOG during lockdown to give me an incentive to get out cycling since I couldn't go with friends as normal, I had a lot of fun rides and in particular a night time ride round Loch Ness which again I'd never have done normally but was wanting to get my miles up and loved it.  Coming into winter I decided to go for an indoor trainer (smart rollers) which I'd always been against but was still missing group riding.  The rollers had a steep learning curve but I'd been getting on ok however the festive 500 made a huge difference, I'd kept to short intense sessions before as I found them uncomfortable but during the festive 500 I found I was balancing better and in turn was more relaxed and comfortable on them.  There's numerous nay sayers with negative comments about doing the challenge indoors but I really don't care, I did it for me and very glad I did.

If someone believes setting mileage challenges is all about showing off and beating other people then I think that says more about their own negative attitudes.

I've always set distance and climbing targets since I joined Strava 7 years ago. I hit 5000+ miles a year until 2018 when I had a bad crash in the summer and broke my scapula; the mileage tailed off dramatically that year. The following year took me until the summer to get back to my normal weekly riding, so was comparable to the year of the crash.

So last year I wanted to push myself and set the target of 10k km, or 6200 miles which was always going to be a stretch and over a thousand km more than I had ever ridden. I like the way Strava breaks your annual target down to a weekly number, I know from years gone by the first and last 2 months I would be behind the curve but as spring comes on I start to get nearer if not catch up.
I gave up in August, April til then had been good, regularly hitting 200k a week or slightly over...but I was still over a thousand behind the target. I was lucky to get away to Italy for a fortnight's holiday, but no riding sadly. Plus I realised that the challenge was making me do strange things; every ride I would try and grab a few km here or there, I was getting up silly early to do a double commute to work. I was also not riding the same, the intensity dropped so I could ride again the next day, or I was doing less mtb because sub 15 kmh doesn't stack up to nearer 28-30 kmh when on the road bike.
One good thing though, I found some new mtb routes, partly because I had more time for some rides so if I got lost or went wrong I had the chance to get back on track.

I've still set distance and climbing goals, but not so much of a stretch. I'd like to ride further than I ever have, but it won't be the main goal.

I see where you're coming from but, and it's a big but, I reserve the right to judge the young men who would father my daughter's children by the distance they can ride.  It's basic and it's crude but I'm a man who makes quick decisions and I need a simple measure.

In the case of a chap with balance difficulties, and let's be honest, most of my daughter's admirers are somewhat unsteady, I fall back on the Proclaimers Principle and disqualify anyone who can't walk 500 miles.  

Depends what you use it for ... I set myself monthly and annual mileage targets, not to boast (usually only my wife has any idea what they are) but because I hate not hitting them and it encourages me to get on the bike when I might have otherwise chosen not to, which is a good thing. 

This year, that will be allied with other, more meaningful/fun targets, such as completing specific fitness goals, and committing to more regular racing on Zwift. 

That said ... I get a kick out of increasing my overall mileage year on year (5000 in 2020 for the first time) so, for me, that in itself is fun. 

Each to their own.